Tonight's Movie: One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

One of my favorite Blu-ray releases this year has been the Deanna Durbin Collection I from Kino Lorber.

This summer I reviewed two of the films in the set, THREE SMART GIRLS GROW UP (1939) and IT STARTED WITH EVE (1941), and today I return to the set to take a look at the final film of the trio, ONE HUNDRED MEN AND A GIRL (1937).

This was my first time to see the movie since I saw it nearly a decade ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  As I noted then, it's not my most favorite Deanna plot, as there's an abundance of pathos, but I love every one of her movies and still find it quite wonderful.

Deanna plays Patsy, the daughter of an unemployed trombonist (Adolphe Menjou).  A cascading series of circumstances leads Patsy to suggest her father and his fellow unemployed musicians form their own orchestra.  The end goal is for the orchestra to receive financial backing and give a concert conducted by the great Leopold Stokowkski (played by himself), which will hopefully lead to additional work.

It's a long journey on the way to achieving her dream, but along the way there are nice bits of comedy and glorious music which makes the film's 84 minutes pass far too quickly.

Deanna sings "A Heart That's Free," "It's Raining Sunbeams," a song from LA TRAVIATA, and best of all, Mozart's "Alleluja."  There's also a marvelous unexpected orchestral number conducted by Stokowski near the end of the film, but to describe it any further would spoil it.

Deanna and the movie are, pure and simple, a treasure.  Her gifts are such that it's hard to believe this was her second feature film. She confidently handles every aspect of her performance with a skill far beyond her years.

The movie was nominated for Best Picture and four other Oscars, with Charles Previn (cousin of Andre) winning for Best Score.

The movie has the kind of deep supporting cast only found in classic Hollywood, including Eugene Pallette, Alice Brady, Mischa Auer, Leonid Kinskey, Frank Jenks, Billy Gilbert, Charles Coleman, Bess Flowers, and Howard Hickman.

ONE HUNDRED MEN AND A GIRL was directed by Henry Koster.  It was filmed in black and white by Joseph Valentine.

The Blu-ray features a lovely print.  The disc has a commentary by Stephen Vagg and a bonus trailer for another film available from Kino Lorber, THE BRIDE WORE BOOTS (1946).

This collection receives my highest recommendation, and I'm hoping we'll be seeing another Durbin collection in 2021!  (November 13th Update: According to discussion on the Home Theater Forum which includes a representative from Kino Lorber, this set has sadly not sold enough copies for Kino Lorber to go forward with Vol. II.)

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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